App Store Update: Imangi 2 word puzzler is online, on speed

The most excellent word puzzle for the iPhone gets even better with speed …

Imangi instantly became one of my favorite puzzle games from the App Store with its deceptively-simple cerebral play. There are 48 letters on a 6x8 rectangular grid. Tap a tile, and it turns blue. Tap letters that form a word, and the tiles turn green. Move a tile—here is the thing—and the entire column or row moves, meaning previously-created words can come undone with the swipe of a finger. Just about the only thing missing was the option to feel small and weak compared to others. Well, Imangi 2.0 has fixed that, and added a new play mode too.

Imangi 2.0 gets new options and online profiles

Online profiles now let you compare your high scores to others. Even better, players can compete on the same board daily. Over the course of a week, the daily challenge will get progressively harder, ending on Sunday with an expert difficulty board. For those who don't want to compete publicly, there are also friend boards to be exchanged with people who will not laugh at your verbal and spatial skills. Besides online connectivity, there is a new variant on game play.

Speed play ties my cerebral cortex in a knot

Speed play makes me ill—but in a good way. It's the kind of agitation one experiences from any game with a clock running. The twist here is that instead of a set board, you can make words and clear them by double tapping the screen. Use all the red letters for bonus scoring and two additional red letters will appear when you clear the screen. As the clock winds down my brain locks up, but maybe not yours. I like to think this is the kind of word game Jack Bauer from 24 plays when he's not saving the world and torturing terrorists—GIVE ME A WORD NOW OR I WILL SHOOT YOU!

Imangi 2.0 is a free upgrade.

Update: FYI, there's a challenge board with iTunes Gift Certificates as prizes: $100, $50, $20. There will also be five $10 certificates given away randomly to those without big brains. The contest runs from September 14th to September 28th, 2008. Rules are available from within the high score menu of the game.